The Survival
by AuditoresGirl
Summary: Optimus Prime would do anything to save his friends and companions, and yet, it seemed that he was powerless to stop their deaths this time. Time and time again, he failed his allies and kin, and lost another companion, until there where none left except for himself. The Well of Sparks is looking more and more appealing as the hours go by... ONESHOT Rated T for dark themes


Optimus Prime was alone. Completely and utterly alone.

It had all started with the explosion of the base, where all the Autobots misfortune had started. He had been engulfed in flames, the fire had been everywhere, all around him, consuming him, until his vision had turned black. Then, the next time he opened his optics, he was in dim lit cave with the young Smokescreen kneeling by his side, fussing over his wounds. Smokescreen explained that he had pulled Optimus out of the wreckage that had once been their home, and had dragged him to a nearby cave.

Sometimes, Optimus wished that Smokescreen had just left him there.

The wounds from the attack had been grievous, with holes blown straight through his armor and gashes littering his frame. The Prime hadn't been able to feel his right leg, and he was sure a line had been disconnected there, it was resting at such an odd angle. Sure that he was going to die, he spoke softly but surely, explaining to Smokescreen what his decision was. Of course, the young recruit had protested, much like Optimus had back when he was Orion Pax. Thoughtfully, he tried to imagine what Smokescreens Prime name would be. Sirius Prime, maybe, or Astrum Prime. Well, the Matrix, and Primus, would decide the young Autobots fate.

But of course, Smokescreen, with his undying loyalty, had used the Forge of Solus Prime to repair his body, bringing him back from the Well of Sparks to Earth. He could remember something calling him to the Well, soft and reassuring, promising to end the pain he was feeling. Then, another voice frantically calling him back to his body, raw with emotion and desperation. He felt absolutely torn. Should he let go of his life, after so many eons of hardship, and finally find blessed peace? Or should he turn back, and face the imminent battle together with his comrades? Be selfish, or selfless. Naturally, Optimus wanted to help the Autobots, so selfless it was.

Then, as Smokescreen and the Prime drove to the location that had been given by Ratchet as they had briefly contacted an hour ago, a Decepticon patrol found them. He wasn't sure how, maybe they had just been scouting the area, or they actually had been targeting them, and they knew he had been there all along, but either way, there was no escaping this fight now. The young Autobot and the Bearer of the Matrix fought against the Decepticons as long as they could hacking away at enemies left and right, until everything was just a blur of blue energy and the flash f his guns and his sword plowing through the troopers. But the Nemesis kept sending wave after wave of Vehicons and fliers, so that, eventually, they had to retreat. Now, Primes don't retreat under the usual circumstances, but this situation was not the usual. And, actually, Optimus had found himself running from a fight a lot more after that battle.

The two Cybertronians had been running side by side one moment, and the next, Optimus almost tripped over Smokescreen as he suddenly let out an agony filled yell, crying out,"Optimus!", and fell limp onto the ground, optics going dim and all the muscles in his body landed on his back, jolting the body of friends a little bit. A shot rang out across the forest they where in, echoing around the trees and eventually fading off into the distance.

The large red-and-blue mech crouched down to the body of his fallen comrade and shook his shoulder firmly, almost violently."Smokescreen, wake up! Smokescreen!"

Smokescreen was a light sleeper and he would have waken up by now. The signs were all there, Smokescreen was dead. Optimus had seen bodies of dead soldiers many times before in his life, but never had the loss of a life been this personal. He took every death of a bot under his command hard, but if he knew the bot on a personal level…

He closed his optics, knowing that this was the last time he would be seeing Smokescreen. Leaning over his comrade, he let a small tear of energon run down his cheek, not bothering to wipe it off, and put his servos on his friends heart, sighing brokenly.

"Till all are one, my friend."

He didn't move for several moments. He was just taking in the body of Smokescreen, so he could remember him. He set this memory to his permanent memory file, then finally stood up quickly as he heard the shouts from swift approaching Vehicons. "Over there!… found him… -all central..Starscream must be informed…"

He stood tall, looking at the body for the last time, then turned around and ran to a hiding spot that he had spotted earlier on when he was driving.

He never looked back.

Shortly after all the Autobots and the humans met up again, He caught wind of another death of one of his companions.

Miko, the organic, female wrecker. All that spirit, bravery, and honor was gone in a moment. Miko, Bulkhead and Wheeljack had been close to a Decepticon energon mine, and their plan had been to blow up the entire joint sky-high. Then, the Predaking appeared, out of nowhere, and hit Miko with a stream of blazing hot fire. The little human didn't even stand a chance, she would've only felt a millisecond of white-hot, scorching pain, before she would be floating in the blissful darkness of death.

The entire team was distraught, having the lost two of their comrades and friends in the same day. Bulkhead and Wheeljack took it the hardest. On the first day, Bulkhead just locked himself away in a part of Ultra Magnus' ship, not coming out for energy, interaction, or anything of the sort. Wheeljack didn't speak for the entirety of that week, just answering everything with a nod or a shake of his head. Bulkhead, when he finally came out, said he was mourning the loss if a wrecker in silence. He added that Wheeljack had done the same when one of his closest friends, Topspin, was gunned down in a Decepticon raid. "He'll come 'round." The green wrecker mumbled." He always does."

Team Prime held out as long as they could, but then, their base was compromised again. Well, to be fair, their base had never been that safe in the first place, It hand't been hidden like their previous base, the new one was in plain sight, and the only reason that they had chosen that base was because of Agent Fowlers idea, to " Hide in plain sight".

But, obviously, that plan failed. And, to top it all off, another one of Team Prime was killed in the ambush. They weren't prepared at all this time. Now, Megatron had all the information that had been stored in their new base. As all the Autobots had been feeing for their lives, Arcee had been hit in the back of the knee by a Vehicon. As she looked up at her companions, who had frozen when they heard the blast and the following gasp of pain, she shook her head, tears coming to her eyes as she heard the approaching Decepticons." Go, go, go! Split up, I'll catch up to you later!"

Optimus gave the signal for the Autobots to move on, before running to her side, and crouching down beside her. He felt an odd sensation of deja-vu. _This is just like the time Smokescreen got hit… _he thought sadly. Calmly, he interrogated her."Arcee, are you able to mobilize?"

The female Autobot paused for a moment, then replied," Optimus… That shot hit a main artery in my leg… I won't be able to run like this." She paused, her face scrunching up in fear as she looked the Prime in the eye."Optimus, please, take care of Jack! Please protect him, because I won't be able to do so any longer." She looked at Jack, who had stretched out his arm at her, as if reaching to help her, and gave the little human a watery, reassuring smile. Instantly, Jack's face lit up, and he gave her a thumbs up.

Optimus stared in her eye for a moment, just taking in the information, then nodded firmly, taking her hand in his. "I promise I will protect Jack to the best of my abilities." He paused, then went on in a sadder tone," Rest well, Arcee."

Arcee nodded, and slowly let herself fall back onto the ground, just staring at the sky."You have to go now, Prime. Those Decepticons are going to come into this clearing at any moment. Don't make me chase you." She added with a smirk, tears still welling up in her eyes.

Optimus smiled at her, finally letting go of her hand."Goodbye, Arcee."

Then, springing int auction, he quickly transformed into his vehicle mode, and gestured for Jack to get in. Jack looked at Arcee, who was still sitting there, muttering to herself, and waved at her. She looked down again and wiped the tears away from her cheeks. She waved back at him, another smile adorning her face. "See you later, Jack!" She called to him. Jack simply nodded, finally getting into Optimus' driver seat.

Optimus quickly caught up to the rest of the Autobots, who had already gotten to a dirt road that lead to a highway, and tried to find a secluded place to discuss their predicament.

Team Prime(or whoever was left of it) eventually settled down in an abandoned barn about 50 miles away from their destroyed last base. They knew they weren't safe yet, but they had to discuss was to do now before moving on to another place. For now, they just had to keep a good look out for any Vehicon activity and be as inconspicuous as giant alien robots could be.

" Optimus, surely, if both of our bases have been found, we have to think of another tactic?" exclaimed Ratchet.

"Sir, the medic does have a point there. What should we do now?" Ultra Magnus stood tall beside the leader of the Autobots, gazing at him questioningly.

Bumblebee beeped worriedly,"~_Optimus, do we have to split up again?~" _

Bulkhead and Wheeljack,who still didn't say anything, just stood around the group awkwardly. Optimus glanced at Raf and Jack, who were talking to each other quietly, and staring at the entrance to the large barn.

"I'm afraid so, Bumblebee. "

And so, Team Prime split up once again, Bumblebee going with Raf, Wheeljack and Bulkhead leaving together, Ultra Magnus going solo, and Optimus taking Jack and Ratchet with him. They didn't even make plans to meet up again, they just said their goodbyes to each other, and left. Jack hugged Raf, telling him, 'everything will be ok', just holding the child for a moment, before leading him to Bumblebee, who was waiting in his vehicle form with the door propped open for the smaller boy.

Several weeks after that fateful day, Jack finally realized that Arcee wasn't coming back. Optimus didn't tell him, he didn't find any clues, he just suddenly had a blank look in his eyes, mouth slightly open, and stared up at Optimus with eyes so full of hopelessness, fear, desperation, and anger, that Optimus almost shrank back from the little human. Jack opened his mouth, and screamed his lungs out at the Prime, shouting and yelling until his voice grew raw.

"WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT, WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME?!" said Jack, tears streaming down his face and dripping down his chin. " You… YOU JUST LEFT HER THERE, WITHOUT BACKUP, WITHOUT ANYTHING! HOW COULD YOU…. do that…"

Optimus crouched down and knelt on his knee joints, reaching out a servo towards the human, but Jack pushed him away, anger returning to his face, and he ran his hand through his hair. Frustrated, he just stared up at Optimus, and spoke the must hurtful words he had ever heard anybody say to him." You… you just left her there. In the hands of the Cons." He leaned in close to the bots face ad whispered in a demeaning, scathful voice,

"You're no better than _Megatron._"

Optimus jerked back as if he had been slapped, and stood up, backing away from the little boy. His gaze was full of sadness, regret, pain, and bitterness as well. "Jack.. I.. I do not have an excuse or an explanation for you. I can only… I can only offer you a way out. If you wish to return to your family, I shall comply. But keep in mind, you will endanger your mother and the rest of the humans around you if you return."

Jack shook his head, still angry at him." No. Don't take me to mom. If.. if you meet her, tell her that I love her. It's the LEAST you can do." Jack glared at him." Can you do that?" He asked in a judgmental, and belittling tone.

Optimus tried to ignore how Jack was talking to him, knowing his judgement was just clouded by grief and despair." I will try to the best of my abilities. Do you not wish to inform your mother yourself?"

Jack gestured frustratedly at the giant bot, and scathingly stated," Well, what if something happens to me? Didn't think of that?"

Then, not a day after that incident, Jack committed suicide.

Optimus and Jack had been driving in silence towards a small nearby town, and had stopped at a gas-station because Jack had to 'relieve himself'. Optimus turned off his engine, and activated his holoform so that no one had any suspicions about the boy who had just stepped out of the semi.

His holoform had a handsome and noble air about him, with spiky, soft hair framing his square jaw and wearing a simple blue shirt. His blue, almost glowing, eyes were flicking back and forth amongst the vehicles and the humans at the station, looking for any Decepticons. As far as he could see, there were none to be seen.

After about a minute, the Prime heard a sudden bang go off, and a mournful moan, that was abruptly cut off. Straightening, he saw a few other men and women at the station glance at the entrance to the bathroom before looking away again, not sparing him a second glance. One of the men even laughed, whispering a crude comment in another mans ear. He snickered.

Optimus looked around him, almost in disappointment at the other humans seemingly uncaring nature. _It seems I have now seen the best and worst of your kind, Jack. _He got out, closing the door behind him, not bothering to lock it. Cautiously, he walked towards the doorway of the mens bathroom and called out to the small organic being," Jack, are you well? …Jack?"

He entered the dingy, dim-lit bathroom, and the first thing he noted, was the god-awful _smell _that hung in the air. A mix of throw-up, sweat, and so much more all mixed together to form an almost demonic and satanic smell, that attacked Optimus' nose and almost _clung _to him. He knew he wouldn't be as pristine as when he had walked into the bathroom.

The second thing he noticed, was the dead body of his human charge on the floor, crimson blood spreading in a pool around the limp form. A clear gun-wound in the head could be seen, and a splash of blood had splashed onto Jack's cheeks and forehead, and his black hair was soaked through from the blood. "No… Jack." Optimus mumbled quietly, rushing towards the teen. " No, no, no,no.." He softly repeated over and over, as if denying what had happened.

Carefully, the holoform held Jack and moved his head so it was resting on his lap, and softly stroked his blood-tainted hair.

"Jack…" He stared down at his young charge,eye brimming with tears." Why? You where so young…"

Jack just gazed back unresponsively, eyes dead and warmth in his skin fast fading, and skin as pale as death. Struck suddenly by the unfairness of it all, Optimus gripped the humans grey jacket, almost ripping it apart in his hands. Why did this happen? So many bots and humans alike had died for the cause of the Autobots, and it was as if all that destruction and devastation wasn't good enough. It was as if life wanted to rip every single thing Optimus cared about and rip it into tiny little pieces and shove it up his tailpipe. Cliffjumper, Smokescreen, Arcee, Miko, Jack, and other nameless mechs and femmes that had perished in their battle on Cybertron.

All absolutely for _nothing. _It seemed as if the was did not and would not end, _ever. _

After a few months, the leader of the now scattered Autobots had taken refuge in another base that had been set up by Agent Fowler, who had found him somewhere in California, wich only had the basics. A few empty sleeping berths, a few basic medical equipments, and a monitor to scan for Decepticon or Autobot life signatures.

There had not been any Autobot life signatures besides his for a whole year.

Meanwhile, the Decepticons believed that they had flushed out all of the 'Autobot scum', and had started advancing towards Washington DC, pillaging and destroying every single town or city that stood in their way. They had already gotten most of New York and Pennsylvania, and was fast approaching their U.S military had been able to hold off a few of their attacks, and where desperately fighting and strategizing day and night to, at the very least, slow the Decepticons down. But they were losing, and badly.

Many times, they had asked for Optimus' advise, and knowledge of Cybetronian history, weapons and any other useful thing, but every time they asked the Prime for help to fight the Decepticons, he firmly refused to get involved in a lost cause. Of course, he did not inform them of his real motives, but they got the gist of it. He was tired of the pain and deaths, and he just wanted to rest in peace, figuratively and literally.

From time to time, Fowler would visit the bot, just to keep him up to date with everything going on, and to 'keep him company'. Many times, he had been informed that his presence was unnecessary and even, on occasions, not welcome. But still he stayed, rambling on and on about everything and nothing in particular. Maybe Fowler felt that he owed the big bot something, that it was his duty to keep him sane and functioning.

But the Prime was fast losing his will to function any longer. He knew, if he would kill himself, his cause, what the Autobots stood for, would die with him, and that there would be nothing in this universe that could stop them from taking over. This organic planet would have no chance to fight or defend themselves against the evil forces of the Decepticons. But, sometimes, it was hard to really care for the humans sometimes, no matter how guilty Optimus about it afterwards. To put it simply, they where not of his race, and many of them had not acted kindly or welcoming towards his kind, except for a few.

Slowly coming to a conclusion, he made his decision, and slowly transformed his arm and hand into a large blaster that glowed with the energon from in the ammunition. Although, this time, the lights where rather dim, as he was quite low on ammo, seeing as he had lost all of his energon reserves to the Decepticons, and his supply of fuel and ammo from the base that the Autobots had gathered before the disaster was nearly exhausted.

He slowly brought the gun up to his helm, squeezing the trigger lightly, not pulling it yet. He tried to gather up his courage to shoot, but it was as if his entire body was screaming at him, _don't do it! _

_No, I want this. I will join the Matrix, and go to the Well of Sparks, and I'll join Elita-1, and Arcee, and Jack, and everyone else that was lost. I won't be alone anymore… I want this… don't I? _He questioned himself, looking up at the sterile-grey ceiling that adorned the makeshift base.

A loud, steady beeping came from the small monitor, and Optimus looked up at the screen, frozen in place.

An Autobot life-signal had popped up.

**So that's it, I hope you(the person reading this) liked it :). I was just in the mood to write an angsty fix, but I didn't want to make it **_**too **_**sad, i wanted Optimus to have some hope, a friend, or something :P **

** Optimus: WHY MEEEE?!**

** Author: Cause you're the fraggin' Prime, would you rather have it that innocent little Bumblebee was the last Autobot?**

** Bumblebee: *puppy eyes***

**Optimus: …No.**

** Author: Exactly, now shut up and go look for that life-signal! **

** Optimus: *rides off into sunset***

**Have a good day!**


End file.
